Quick Facts
Biography
Michael Gwynn (30 November 1916 in Bath, Somerset – 29 January 1976 in London) was an English actor. He attended Mayfield College near Mayfield, Sussex. During the Second World War he served in East Africa as a major and was adjutant to the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion of the King's African Rifles.
He is perhaps best remembered in contemporary culture as the shyster "Lord" Melbury who attempts to con £200 and a set of British Empire coins from the unsuspecting Basil Fawlty, in the first ever episode of the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers. In the world of cult films, he did three Hammer horror films: Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960), a rare drama film for the studio, The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) where he was Karl, and Scars of Dracula (1970) where he was a priest determined to battle Dracula.
Gwynn also appeared on several adaptations of plays on the Caedmon Records label. Among them were Cyrano de Bergerac, in which he played Le Bret, and Julius Caesar, in which he played Casca. Both productions starred Ralph Richardson in the title role.
He died on 29 January 1976 in London from a heart attack, aged 59.
Plays
- 1956 – A View from the Bridge (opening season) by Arthur Miller
Filmography
- 1954 – The Runaway Bus - 1st Transport Officer
- 1957 – The Secret Place - Steve Waring
- 1958 – Dunkirk - Commander - Sheerness
- 1958 – The Camp on Blood Island - Tom Shields
- 1958 – The Revenge of Frankenstein - Karl
- 1958 – The Doctor's Dilemma - Dr. Blenkinsop
- 1960 – Never Take Sweets from a Stranger - Prosecutor
- 1960 – Village of the Damned - Alan Bernard
- 1961 – Question 7 - Friedrich Gottfried - Pastor
- 1961 – What a Carve Up! - Malcolm Broughton
- 1961 – Barabbas - Lazarus
- 1962 – Some People - Vicar
- 1963 – Cleopatra - Cimber
- 1963 – Jason and the Argonauts - Hermes
- 1964 – The Fall of the Roman Empire - Cornelius
- 1965 – Catch Us If You Can - Hardingford
- 1966 – The Deadly Bees - Dr. George Lang
- 1967 – The Crowning Gift - Jesus Christ
- 1969 – The Virgin Soldiers - Lt. Col. Bromley-Pickering
- 1970 – Scars of Dracula - Priest
- 1976 – Spy Story - Dawlish (final film role)